b obama has the lead. we still have a month to go. the next two weeks with three presidential, one vice presidential debates, we have a chance for mitt romney to set a different impression with the american people than he's been able to do so far. who knows what president obama will do and what events are happening in the world. but i'm not sure other than some tightening from a little surge that obama had which i think is receding a little bit, i'm not sure what nate is talking about. >> john, you wrote a column that talks about the debates and the impact of the debates traditionally. and made the case that traditionally it makes very little impact. >> there are many individual moments that make an impression. but to fundamentally change where a race is going is very rare and you need a combination of events. the example that i used in that piece, andrew, was 2000, al gore had a lead of about what president obama has now entering the debates against george w. bush. he had a reputation as a strong debater. his body language was off, h